Communicator Spotlight: Gina Clark of Cencora

📍How she got here: Clark has spent more than 40 years in the health care industry, holding communication and strategy roles at Premier Inc. and HealthSouth before joining Cencora in 2006.

🏗 How it's structured: Clark sits on the executive leadership team and reports to Cencora CEO Steven Collis.

• Her team manages global public affairs; marketing; brand and customer experience; diversity, equity and inclusion; environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG); and real estate.

🗣 What she's saying: Communications was historically viewed as "a nice to have," but the need for centralized communications and quality control became clear due to the company's growth, says Clark.

• "Nobody makes a move without bringing in communications," she added. "We are very front and center in everything that goes on in the company. And in fact, I would say if we're not the first phone call [during] a big event, we are the second phone call."

👀 What she's watching: CEO expectations during an election year.

• "Communications has become an important partner as every CEO is called upon to respond to political or social crises — and when you're a public company, it's always a big decision," she says.
• "Is it appropriate for us to weigh in and if we do, how much do we weigh in? Honestly, our CEO has really come to depend on our communications leadership to guide the company on what to do."

📚Reading list: Clark's recent reads include, "The Second Mrs. Astor" by Shana Abé and "From Strength to Strength" by Arthur Brooks.

🧠 Best advice: Talk less, listen more.

• "Communications can be meaningless if you haven't listened first."

Subscribe to Axios Communicators.